Mark Orgill: Laguna Beach City Council Candidate 2026

Serving Laguna Beach has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I am running for reelection because important work is underway, and I want to help carry it forward with collaborative leadership. We have an opportunity to plan for Laguna’s future while protecting what generations before us worked so hard to preserve. My commitment is to govern with civility, transparency, fiscal responsibility, and a stewardship mindset that considers the long-term consequences of today’s decisions.

First, protect public safety by strengthening wildfire preparedness, evacuation planning, water reliability, and emergency response. Second, make City government more efficient, responsive, and fiscally responsible. Third, develop a stewardship platform centered on three interconnected pillars: culture, heritage, and environment and use it to guide coordinated updates to our General Plan, Local Coastal Program, and municipal codes. Together, these priorities will protect residents’ quality of life while preparing Laguna responsibly for the future.

City Hall must protect Laguna’s distinctive sense of place. Our natural environment, artistic and cultural identity, historic character, unique neighborhoods, and walkable, small-town atmosphere are all deeply connected. They cannot be preserved through isolated decisions. Protecting them requires thoughtful planning, consistent standards, and a long-term commitment to stewardship. Laguna will continue to face change and development pressure, but both must be managed carefully so that progress strengthens the community residents love rather than diminishing it.

The City must become less reactive and more focused on coordinated, long-range planning. Too often, important decisions are made project by project under plans and codes that have not kept pace with changing conditions. Clearer policies and updated standards will improve efficiency, consistency, and public understanding. Residents deserve a City government that plans ahead, communicates clearly, measures results, and uses public resources responsibly.

Responsible tourism must begin with protecting residents’ quality of life. That philosophy has already shaped my work on the Council. I helped restructure how tourism-generated revenue is allocated, directing approximately $500,000 annually toward City visitor-management needs so that more of the resources generated by tourism are invested directly in managing its impacts on our community. Visitors have been part of Laguna since its earliest days, supporting local businesses, arts institutions, and the creative community. However, tourism must be managed thoughtfully so that it strengthens Laguna without overwhelming its neighborhoods, public spaces, natural resources, or City services.